New Jersey Museum of Boating

Well we have been back in NJ for just over a week and Barbara just needed to go see something new, and I always find something interesting on these little trips so I enjoy them too. She found a coupon on Entertainment Online (http://www.entertainment.com/save/home) for the New Jersey Museum of Boating (http://www.njmb.org/) so we went on Tuesday. First we where going to have lunch at a Burger King in Point Pleasant (you guessed it she printed a coupon from Entertainment Online). Well we really only got two Whoppers at BK, we brought some veggies, soda and fruit to complete the lunch. After lunch I plugged in the address from the coupon into Hyacinth (our GPS) for the museum and off we went to find it. We had no problem finding the address, but the museum was not in that building. The museum is in building 12 at the Johnson Brothers Boat Works but we where at building 1. We found a door where there was a lady and when we asked her where the museum was she said it was in area but she did not know exactly where; it seems the boat works cover a large area. She did tell us to go back out to one of the main roads and follow it until we see a sign for the library and museum. To make a long story short (too late I know) after driving very carefully around some very large boats in storage (saw some nice sailboats for sale) we found the building the museum is in. We went in to pay but no one was there to take our coupon or money (Barbara had said it might be free). We wondered around and read some of the displays, also found out that they have plans for a larger facility on the bay. After wondering around in the building for about 10 minutes, and taking some pictures, we went back to the car. We where already on the barrier island so we decided to ride down Route 35 to the Tom’s River causeway bridge. All in all it was a pleasant afternoon.

Home Again Home Again, Jiggity Jig

We left the motel a little after 8 AM and got home about 12:50 PM this afternoon. Our GPS (we named it Hyacinth) took us around DC and almost through the middle of it and then up the Baltimore Washington Parkway. So we saw the Washington Monument, the dome of the Capital and the Jefferson Memorial, all from a distance. It was an uneventful drive home.

Day 34: Last Night on the Road 2009-3-14

Second day on the road, we are taking our time going home and seeing things on the way. Today we stopped in Fredericksburg, Va. and saw The Rising Sun Tavern and Hugh Mercer Apothecary Shop. The Rising Sun Tavern gives you a look into what a Tavern during the 18th century was like. And found out the origins of many sayings we still use today, such as 'not playing with a full deck' refers to the fact that the ace of spades would be removed from a deck of cards to avoid paying the tax to the British crown. In Dr. Hugh Mercer's apothecary shop we found out he was a noted physician of Scottish origins. We also learned how they used leaches and bleedings, the leaches are about 3 inches long that come from Sweden. The last motel we are staying at has an indoor pool so we went for a swim, it was okay, not like being in Florida. Well this is our last day on the road and we will be home tomorrow afternoon.

Day 33: Cape Fear Garden 2009-3-13

Got on the road about 8 AM and started north under cloudy skies. We stopped in Fayetteville, NC at Cape Fear Botanical Garden (http://www.capefearbg.org/). Another place we get into free with our membership to the garden in PA. We did not do the whole garden, it was too cold (40 degrees after in the 80’s the day before in Florida) but we did see some daffodils and Camellias. They also have a children’s garden that we walked through. We had reservations at a motel in Fayetteville but decided to go on to Smithville just an hour more and we had the time. We got reservations for the night in the motel in Smithville that we stayed in on our way down. We are even in the same room.

Day 32: Travel Day 2009-3-12

Well Barbara and I woke up around 6:00 AM and after breakfast, cereal and milk, I went to shave and get a shower. When I got back we started to do the final packing and cleaning of the trailer. I filled the trunk and then started filling the back seat. George came over around 8:50 and we started prepping the trailer for the move into storage. After George disconnected the sewer hose, yuck, I had the pleasure of rinsing it out with the hose, double yuck. I was too busy helping that I did not get any pictures, sorry. Well after the trailer was back into storage Barbara and I squeezed into the car and off we went. After driving for 6 hours we stopped at our first motel in Richmond Hill, GA. That is all for today, tomorrow we will be stopping and seeing a garden (I think) before we stop for the night.

Day 31: Final Farewell to Florida 2009-3-11

This is our last full day in Florida. We packed up our things and I packed the car trunk, strange thing there is more room in it now then on the way down. As Barbara pointed out we brought down a lot of food that we ate while we where here. We went for our last swim in the pool, see pictures. And then we went over to the Rose’s (our new place) to take some measurements and leave some stuff. Tomorrow I will help George put the trailer back into storage.

Day 30: Birthday 2009-3-10

First I need to say “Happy Birthday to me”. Yes, today is my birthday. First Barbara made me Swedish Pancakes for breakfast, my favorite. Then she was going out for lunch and I was on my own. I went to BK and then to Bealls Outlet bought myself 2 new bathing suits. When I came home George came over and asked if I could help him with a problem he was having with his computer. Unfortunately I was unable to help him, I think he has a bad spot on his hard drive and is going to have to get a new hard drive and reinstall. After Barbara got home we went to the pool for a swim, I wore one of my new bathing suits. Barbara had a wonderful tea party with Lil, Flo and a friend of Lil’s. And I enjoyed my afternoon alone. For dinner we took George and Pat (it is their trailer we are staying in) out to dinner. The place we went is called Woody’s Bar-B-Q, dinner was great.
I also want to say Happy Birthday to Lil, I am glad she lets me share her birthday.

Day 29: Beach Day 2009-03-09

Today I went for a morning bike ride (I rode for just over an hour) then Barbara and I went to the pool and while she walked in the water I did 18 laps. After lunch we went to the beach for a swim. It was low tide and there where no big drop offs so I walked out passed the breakers, it was wonderful. I then helped Barbara into the water, with her artificial knees she has to be careful. She did fall down but I was able to get her back on her feet quickly so no harm done. Now we both have been in the ocean. I love florida.

Day 27: laundry Day 2009-3-7

Well we are on the down side of the time in Florida for this year. There is just one thing I needed to do before we left. I had Barbara take my picture by the pool and I cut and pasted that together from an image of me in one of the same chairs from 2004. Can you tell which is from 2004 and which is from 2009?

Day 26: West Palm Beach 2009-3-6

Today we took Flo down to West Palm Beach so she could visit with an old friend, and we went to the Norton Museum of Art (http://www.norton.org). Barbara had it all planned, after dropping off Flo, we took off for the museum. The Museum is having an exhibition called “Georgia O’Keeffe and Ansel Adams: Natural Affinities” which we wanted to see. It was wonderful with many paintings by O’Keefe and just as many photos by Adams, sorry no picture taking in the museum. They also have many other exhibitions in the museum so we decided to have lunch in their café, which was overpriced ($2.00 for an 8oz coke) but the food was good. After walking around the museum until 2:30 PM it was time to go get Flo and head home.

Day 25: Beach Day 2009-3-5

Today Barbara and I did some cleaning in the trailer, she cleaned the kitchen area and I vacuumed the floor. After that we went to the beach, only the second time this whole trip. Barbara picked the spot on the beach and asked me if it was alright and I said it was fine (check out today’s pictures). I also went in the water as you can see from the pictures. We went for a walk on the beach and then back to the chairs. We stayed about 1.5 hours then we packed up and went back to the park where Barbara went in the pool to walk some more, I just sat on a chair and read my book.

Day 23 - 24 Tea, Art and Zoo

Yesterday Barbara and I did separate things. Flo took Barbara to a Victorian tea house (http://www.thevictorianlady.net/tea_room.htm) for lunch and she had a wonderful time. First they had a lovely lunch and then they got a tour of the house which was ordered from the Sear’s catalog. She loved it. I on the other hand went to Burger King for lunch and then went to Wal-Mart to pick up some stuff we needed.
Today we drove to Melbourne to go to the Brevard Art Museum (http://www.brevardartmuseum.org). They where having an exhibition of Annie Leibovitz’s work called Women. The photos where all of famous and not famous women she has photographed over the years. The photography was very impressive. After leaving the museum we went to the Brevard Zoo (http://www.brevardzoo.org/) a few miles away. It is a small zoo but makes up for it in how it is organized. They have an African area where you can go kayaking or feed the Giraffes. In the Australian area they have a walk through aviary where you can feed the birds, which was great fun (see pictures). The wild Florida area had several American Alligators and American Crocodiles. You can watch them be fed but we did not do that. The last area was La Selva Rainforest where they have a jaguar enclosure with a female jaguar and her two cubs. It was fun to watch the cubs playing with each other. Then it was time to go home to the trailer.

Our Shack by the Track

I thought that those of you that are following my blog might want to see what our new place in Florida looks like. So I have added a new album with a few pictures of 18 Billy III Ave.

Day 22: It is official 2009-3-2

Today we went to the tax office and transferred the title into our name, so we now own the trailer at 18 Billy III Ave. After that we just went down to Vero Beach and checked out some stores. Spent about an hour in the book store, we love book stores. That is all for today.